The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the Delhi High Court on Thursday that the FIR against its Special Director Rakesh Asthana on bribery allegations shows cognisable offences.
The agency opposed Asthana's plea seeking quashing of the FIR and said a roving inquiry at this stage was not permissible.
It also told the court that the probe against Asthana was at a nascent stage and several incriminating documents as well as the role of other persons was under investigation.
The agency said it was handicapped in the probe as certain files and documents were under Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) scrutiny.
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The agency denied all adverse allegations levelled by Asthana, "whether germane or not germane", in his petition.
The petitions of Asthana, CBI DSP Devendra Kumar and alleged middleman Manoj Prasad are scheduled to come up for hearing before a bench of Justice Najmi Waziri during the day.
Asthana, a 1984 batch Indian Police Service officer of Gujarat cadre, is accused of accepting a bribe of Rs 2 crore from a businessman who was under probe in the case relating to meat exporter Moin Qureshi, in order to "wreck" the investigation. The case was being examined by a special investigation team (SIT) headed by Asthana.
